The invention relates to a holding device for a beverage container, such as for example, a beverage can, a cup or a beaker, for installation, for example, in a dashboard of a motor vehicle.
Such holding devices are known per se. They have a carriage which is displaceably guided from an inserted position into a pulled-out position in the manner of a drawer by means of a sliding guide element. The carriage itself, or a holder attached to it, has an insertion opening, which is usually circular, and into which the beverage container is insertable when the carriage is in the pulled-out position. In the inserted position, the carriage or the holder preferably closes flush with the dashboard or the like.
The known holding devices have the disadvantage that, when they are in the pulled-out position, they conceal control or display elements mounted beneath them and consequently hinder access to those elements or prevent them from being read. Also, the carriage with the holder in the pulled-out position may be in the way when a transmission lever is operated.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a holding device which is formed so that the readability and operability of control and display elements mounted beneath it are not, or are only slightly, hindered.
In keeping with these objects and with others which will become apparent hereinafter, one feature of present invention resides, briefly stated in a beverage container in which a holder is pivotably mounted on a carriage by a pivotable joint, and the holder is so mounted on the carriage as to be pivotable through approximately 90xc2x0 to the side, so that in a pivoted-out position the holder is located substantially at the side, next to the carriage.
In the holding device according to the invention, the holder with the insertion opening for the beverage container is pivotally mounted on the carriage by a pivotal joint. A pivotal axis of the pivotal joint is located in the side region of the carriage. The pivotal joint makes it possible for the holder to be pivoted through approximately 90xc2x0 to the side, so that the holder is positioned substantially at the side, next to the carriage. The carriage can be so constructed that, when it is in the pulled-out position, it does not project from, or projects only slightly from, the dashboard or the like and consequently does not conceal control or display instruments that are mounted beneath the holding device. The holder pivots so far to the side that it, too, does not conceal control or di play elements mounted beneath the holding device.
In a preferred arrangement, the holding device according to the invention has a positive control means which is effective between the carriage and the holder and derives the pivotal movement of the holder from the displacement of the carriage and/or vice versa. The positive control means forcibly assigns a particular pivotal angle of the holder to a particular sliding position of the carriage, so that the holder cannot be moved independently of the carriage and the carriage cannot be moved independent of the holder. The positive control means may be in the form of, for example, a guide track arrangement having a fixed guideway mounted in a housing of the holding device, with a guide pin, mounted on the holder, engaging in the guideway.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the holding device has an opening spring element which moves the carriage out of the inserted position into the pulled-out position. This has the advantage that the carriage travels automatically into the pulled-out position. In the inserted position, the carriage is held against the force of the opening spring element, for example, by a releasable locking device.
In a further development of the invention, the holding device has an intermediate element which the opening spring element engages. The intermediate element is displaceably guided by means of a sliding guide element in the direction in which the carriage slides; the intermediate element is thus displaced by the opening spring element once the carriage has been released. Rotatably mounted on the intermediate element is a toothed wheel which engages with a fixed-position toothed rack and, at an opposite side, with a toothed rack fixed relative to the carriage. The two toothed racks are arranged parallel to each other, extending in the direction in which the carriage slides, the spacing between them being so selected that the toothed wheel located between the two toothed racks engages with both toothed racks. As a result of the displacement of the intermediate element by the opening spring element that engages the intermediate element, the toothed wheel is displaced by the displacement distance of the intermediate element and, since it engages with the fixed-position toothed rack, is set in rotation. The displacement and rotation of the toothed wheel causes the toothed rack fixed relative to the carriage, with which rack the toothed wheel likewise engages, to be displaced at twice the speed and by the twice the distance of the intermediate element.
This embodiment of the invention thus provides for the carriage to be displaced by twice the distance of the intermediate element that the opening spring element engages. This embodiment of the invention has the advantage that it renders possible displacement of the carriage by a substantial distance, which is necessary especially when the holder pivotally mounted on the carriage is located in front of the carriage in the direction in which the carriage is pulled out. The carriage must in that case be displaced to such an extent that the entire holder is located in front of the dashboard or the like of the motor vehicle, so as to enable it to be pivoted through approximately 90xc2x0 to the side.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the holder has at least one support for supporting from below and from the side beverage container inserted into the holder, the support being pivotally mounted on the holder so that when the holding device is not in use it can be folded down onto or into the holder. This has the advantage that the holding device can be of flat construction and consequently be structurally space-saving. The support has a laterally projecting pivotal shaft about which the support is pivotable. For the purpose of pivoting the support, the pivotal shaft has a threaded surface along which a carriage slides as the holder is pivoted, and hence pivots the support.
In a further development of the invention, the carriage has a control element, for example a control pin, which engages in a control track in the holder. The control track follows an accurate path around the pivotal axis of the holder, the spacing from the pivotal axis of the holder, of course, varying over the length of the control track. When the holder is pivoted, the control element engaging in the control track of the holder brings about a displacement of the carriage, which in turn pivots the support by means of the threaded surface of the pivotal shaft. The pivotal movement of the support is in that manner derived from the pivotal movement of the holder.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.